HOW TO REDUCE YOUR WASTE AT HOME
Why is waste a problem?
In Cardinia Shire, we throw away more than 16,000 tonnes of waste a year that ends up
as landfill. That’s the equivalent weight of 38 jumbo jets or 5,461 rhinos.
It’s not good for the environment, wasting precious resources. Landfilled waste threatens
natural habitats, and contributes carbon emissions. More landfill also means an increase
in Council’s garbage charge. This is a special levy Council has to pay the State
Government each year for every tonne of waste that goes to landfill. This garbage charge
is costly to Council and is reflected in residents’ rates notices once a year.
It’s easy to make small changes that make a huge difference to the amount we throw
away.
Did you know? Council offers a $30 rates rebate if you choose to have a smaller 80 litre
bin for your garbage rather than a standard 120 litre bin. Why not challenge your
household to reduce waste and save money at the same time?
If you would like a smaller 80 litre garbage bin, call customer service on 1300 787 624 or
visit www.cardinia.gov.au/halveyourwaste
Think about the three ‘Rs’
Reduce – Reducing what you buy and prevent waste being created in the first place is
the most effective way to lessen our impact on the environment. Try using reusable
coffee cups instead of disposable.
Re-use– Using items over and over in their current form or for another purpose is the
second most effective way you can reduce waste. How about using yoghurt pots for
seed planting pots?
Recycle – Make full use of the recycling services Council and other organisations offer
to make sure resources don’t end up in landfill. Keep an eye out for details of Council’s
hard waste and e-waste collections and other initiatives.
Did you know? There are other ‘Rs’ as well – repair, renovate and refill. These all
help the environment too.
When at the shops… think about your purchases
When considering how to reduce waste and lessen our impact on the environment, it’s
important to think about our shopping choices.
All products require raw materials to make. Extraction of these consumes materials and
energy. Add manufacturing, packing and distribution and that’s a lot of resources and
waste generated. Then there is disposal of a product at the end of its life.
Being aware of this helps us make better and more ethical choices as well as sending
important messages to manufacturers and retailers.
Ask yourself, do I really need it? There is a difference between wanting and needing
something. Asking this question will help avoid unnecessary consumption.
Can you borrow, share, rent, lease or buy the product second-hand?
Packaging is another thing to consider while making purchases. Retailers and
manufacturers are slowly getting the message that we want less. Buying products with
less packaging reinforces this message.
Tips
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buy fruit and vegetables loose
buy meat and fish from the deli instead of pre-packaged items
buy in bulk – one large pack uses less packaging than multiple individually
wrapped items
buy good quality products that will last. They may cost more initially but will save
you money in the long term as they won’t have to be replaced as often.
avoid ‘single use’ disposable items
use rechargeable batteries
choose products with replaceable parts – razors or toothbrushes with replaceable
heads.
Don’t forget your reusable bag while making your smart purchases.
If you can’t avoid packaging, try buying packaging that can be recycled easily at home.
Look for the recycling symbol and number on plastics. Rigid plastic bottles and
containers with numbers 1–7 are recyclable. Flexible plastic packaging, polystyrene and
plastic bags aren’t yet recyclable at home.
It’s important to support the recycling industry and buy products made out of recycled
content. Collecting materials for recycling is not viable if we don’t buy recycled products.
Avoid wasting food
In Australia, we waste four million tonnes of food each year. That’s the equivalent to
15.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions and amounts to $5.2 billion spent on uneaten
food. Wasting food also wastes the resources used to grow it, like water and energy.
About 40 –per cent of the average person’s bin contents are food waste, which can easily
be composted or put into worm farms.
Tips
Get creative with your leftovers – leftover food can make quick and easy lunches for
the next day or could be used to create tasty new meals.
Think portions – cups, spoonfuls and scales are useful tools to measure the perfect
amount of food to prepare or cook.
Be smart with storage – freeze items you know can be frozen to last longer.
Know your dates – dates on food packaging can be confusing. ‘Use by’ dates mean that
the food should not be eaten after that date. ‘Best before’ means the item might not be as
fresh after that date.
Plan your meals – Making shopping lists can help prevent impulse purchases and
buying things you might not need. Plan meals in advance and stick to your list while in
the shops. You’ll see the difference in your hip pocket as well as what you throw away.
For more information, tips and recipes, visit www.foodwise.com.au
Get busy in the garden with home composting and worm farming
Home composting and worm farming are inexpensive and natural ways to transform
food and garden waste into nutrient rich compost you can use on your garden. Almost
half your household waste can be composted and it’s easy.
Home composting – for best results position your compost bin in shady spot and turn
the contents regularly.
Worm farms – no need to turn, your worms will do that for you. Don’t feed them citrus
or onions, they don’t like it.
Did you know?
If you buy a compost bin or worm farm you are entitled to a $30 rebate on your rates?
Keep your receipt and bring it to our customer service counter at Council Offices or vsit
www.cardinia.vic.gov.au for details
Want to know more about composting?
Refer to our Home composting guide available soon on councils website.
Free your furniture
Many people place goods out for our hard waste collection simply because they do not
want them anymore, and perfectly good items can end up in landfill. Do your bit for the
environment and help a charity at the same time.
GiveNow has compiled a register of places and organisations you can donate your
unwanted, good quality furniture to. Visit www.givenow.com.au
There are plenty of forums for advertising unwanted items so they don’t go to waste.
Anything from building materials to baby clothes can be really useful to others. These
forums allow you to give or find items for free:
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www.freecycle.org/group/au/victoria – One of the oldest ‘free stuff’ forums, the
Freecycle Network is made up of many individual local groups. Each local group is
moderated by a local volunteer. Membership is free and the FreeCycle movement is
not-for-profit.
www.yours2take.com.au/ – This website turns one person’s trash into someone
else’s treasure. It’s free to use and everything offered on the site must be offered free
of charge.
http://au.ziilch.com – List your item for free, people will request your stuff and
arrange for an item to be collected again all for free.
www.reusemoose.com – Another place to advertise free unwanted items.
Or how about selling any unwanted, but re-usable, items.
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www.gumtree.com.au – listings (to sell, receive or give away items) can be posted on
the Gumtree website for free.
www.ebay.com.au- – charges a listing fee as well as a percentage of your sale price.
eBay has an international reach so items can be traded overseas.
www.tradingpost.com.au - is an Australian-only website. Charges an upfront fee to
list your item, but comes with a guarantee. Sell it in four weeks or your money back.
If your furniture is looking a little tired? Try your hand at re-upholstering with some
fresh fabric or give it a lick of paint or varnish for a new lease on life.
Electronics or eWaste
Electrical waste (eWaste) put out with your regular hard waste collection unfortunately
doesn’t get recycled. Council does, however, provide a number of e-waste recycling
collections at locations around Cardinia Shire each year. Look out for information in
your local paper or on our website www.cardinia.vic.gov.au for times, dates and locations
of the next collection.
Want to recycle a computer? A comprehensive list of computer recyclers in Melbourne
can be found at www.recyclingnearyou.com.au/computers/CardiniaVIC
Consider getting broken electrical items fixed may be more economical than you think,
especially with larger electronic items. Check Council’s business directory to find firms
who repair larger electrical items such as washing machines, dishwashers and vacuum
cleaners.
Clothes looking tired, or tired of your clothes?
Donating clothing is not a new idea, shops like the Salvation Army and St Vinnies have
been around for a long time. Growing in popularity are swap parties and events. You
simply swap pre-loved, good condition clothes with someone else. Clothing exchange
organise swaps across the country. Check out www.clothingexchange.com.au for more
information.
How about hosting your own swap party? Planet Ark have a DIY kit available to host
your own swap day. Visit www.planetark.com for more information.
Cloth nappies, save money and the environment
It’s worth considering cloth nappies instead of disposables if you have young children.
Australians throw away about 2.1 billion disposable nappies every year. Most end up in
landfill, whilst the rest litter our beaches, roadsides and parks.
Cloth nappies have come a long way with a large variety of funky colours, patterns and
new modern fabrics that are easy to wash. You’ll even save up to $2,000 using them
and that’s including the cost of washing. Using them for your second child will save you
even more. Even if you only use them when at home and use disposables when away,
this will still make a significant reduction in the amount of waste to landfill.
For more information on modern cloth nappies visit www.nappynetwork.org.au or
www.mygreennappy.org
Advertising material (junk mail)
There are around eight billion catalogues delivered around Australia each year. Junk mail
makes up six per cent of all paper used, equating to 240,000 tonnes of paper per year.
One tonne of catalogue pages uses 90,000 litres of water to produce. We could fill 8,640
Olympic swimming pools with the water used to produce a year’s worth of catalogues.
What can you do?
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Pick up a No junk mail sticker for your letterbox from Council’s offices if you don’t
wish to receive unaddressed mail items including catalogues. These signs are also
available from most hardware stores.
Register on the Australian Direct Marketing Association ‘Do not mail’ register by
visiting www.adma.com.au. This will stop you receiving mail from any businesses you
don’t currently deal with. Registrations only relate to ADMA member companies so
may not stop all unwanted promotional mail.
If you want to stop receiving mail from a specific business or businesses, contact the
business directly and advise them to take your name off their mailing list.
More easy tips and ideas
At school and work
Challenge your family to ‘nude food’ lunches at work and at school and see who can
have the least waste at lunch.
Be green and read from the screen. If you need to print, make sure you set your default
on your computer to always print double sided.
Trade in your disposable items
Green alternatives
From this
To this
Paper towels
washable cloths
Aluminium food trays
baking tins
Tissues
handkerchiefs
Disposable razors
razors with replaceable blades
Batteries
rechargeable batteries
Disposable coffee cups
‘keep’ cups or reusable cups
This information is brought to you by the Halve Your Waste project.
For more information contact Cardinia Shire Council on 1300 787 624 or visit
www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/halveyourwatse